Direct Japan Flights Start

KHMER TIMES
SUM MANET

Dignitaries disembarking from ANA’s inaugural flight to Phnom Penh from Tokyo. Supplied

Landing at 3:10pm yesterday, the All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 787-8 marked the first direct flight between Tokyo and Phnom Penh in seven years.

The daily service will make for a much shorter – and hassle free – journey, and boost business and tourism, officials said this week.

Shinya Katanozaka ANA CEO, said that the company was “honored” to begin the daily service.

“Cambodia is not only a fascinating tourism destination, it is also garnering global attention for its high potential for economic growth, so we look forward to welcoming both leisure and business passengers on our flights to and from Cambodia,” he said after disembarking the inaugural flight.

According to the Council for Development of Cambodia, cumulative investment since 1994 from Japan reached more than $400 million as of June last year. Cambodia’s exports to Japan, from January to June, rose by 32.7 percent to $565 million, from $425 million in the same period last year, according to data from the Japan External Trade Organization.

Cambodia Airports CEO Eric Delobel called the service a “milestone,” and noted the potential to further develop the route.

“Cambodia Airports looks forward to further coopering with ANA and other airlines to unlock the full potential of this new route, especially by building onto the airports in Osaka,” he said

Cambodia’s ambassador to Japan, Chea Kimtha, speaking at an event in Tokyo before the plane departed, spoke of how the flight with strengthen bilateral ties.

"Friendship between the two countries will become deeper," Japan’s Kyodo News reported him as saying.

On Tuesday, Japanese Ambassador Yuji Kunamaru said he was optimistic about the new service.

“Direct flights between the two countries has been a dream of the peoples of both countries for a long time,” Mr. Kunamaru said.

“I am confident that the direct daily flights between Phnom Penh and Tokyo will bring our bilateral relations to an entirely new level. There will be a lot more people travelling between our two countries, regardless of the purpose of their visits.”